By politicising the Abbott visit to Afghanistan Julia Gillard has endangered his life and the lives of the individuals who would provide his security. The Taliban now know Abbott will be in Afghanistan soon and can make preliminary preparations for an attack on him.
This combined with the fact that we already know she used to send her former bodyguard and subsequently low-level staffer to attend national security meetings on her behalf raises serious doubts about her judgement in this area.
She really has got things arse about. This is completely pear shaped.
Bolt has picked up on this:
You’re right on the Open Thread, JC. I don’t think Rudd would have done this. I don’t like the dude but I think he’s more honourable than Gillard on stuff like this.
Oh brother:
PM admits foreign policy not her forte.
Abbott shouldn’t take this laying down from chubby arse.
He’s got a great opening that Hockey created through Hockey’s demolition of chubby’s political grandstanding.
Abbott ought to call a press conference and lay it all out again repeating what Hockey said because repetition in this game is a good thing and then rip a few pounds of flesh of her fat arse.
He could even turn the jet lag thing around and screw her over by suggesting he didn’t want to let the cat out of the bag about when he was going in case he endangered lives there… not his own being of concern.
He ought to repeat that chubby flouted security conventions by playing with security issues for political gain and then repeat how she never attended NSA meets seeing she sent her driver so she wouldn’t know how security is done.
Spot on JC. I hope he does.
And I wonder if the MSM will beat-up on gillard about this, in the same fashion as they did with Abbott today. Probably not.
From Cl’s link
Oh lord no.
Yes Chubbs, sitting in a class room doing photo ops is more important than opening new trade opportunities.. talking to the Europeans to open their agric markets.
Figuring out ways to diffuse the potentially looming currency war between the US and China… talking to the Japanese about engaging more in the region to stem Chinese influence in the region.
Yep Chubb, Foreign policy is less important than sitting in a class room for photo ops.
Can I ask… Is it wrong of me to plead with the NSW right to undo the assassination and have Rudd back?
Would I be wrong in that?
Boudicca Gillard is in charge, nothing to worry about
This is stupidest thing I have read in a long time. Stupendous.
Ilya
The stupidest thing I’ve read in the long time is the stupid comment at your blog referring to Bob Brown as respected and suggesting he has more respect than Gillard or Abbott..
Can i ask if you were snorting or inhaling when you wrote that particular bit of swill?
Hey Tal.
Missed ya. 🙂
This is stupidest thing I have read in a long time.
This can’t possibly be true because your blog is choc-a-bloc with admiring references to Professor Kwiggin.
CL right back at ya
We have to assume the Ranga-in-Chief is spinning, not emoting.
So if she declares her raptures over early reading lessons over managing foreign relations, one possibility is their focus groups are showing KRudd’s striding the international diplomatic stage is going down like a lead balloon in the marginals. Therefore, she positions as the Anti-Rudd.
I mean – god forbid she would express a view that hasn’t been run through Hawker Britton first.
This is looking more and more like a comic book every day.
YEAH RIGHT
Good to see that Sincs and the Catallaxy crew are maintaining the rage on The Big Issues. The truth is that “surprise” visits to Afghanistan, the Upper Volta, or where-ever “our boys” happen to be fighting for truth, justice and whatever at any particular moment are simply political photo-ops which are a complete waste of time and money. This applies whether the polly in the flak jacket is John Howard, KRudd, Julia or the Mad Monk.
Now, Julia may be guilty of playing politics over this particular incident, but Sincs’ statement that she has “endangered his [Abbott’s] life and the lives of the individuals who would provide his security” is plainly melodramatic poppycock. You guys really need to get a sense of proportion in your commentary.
PS Illya: you should read the archives!
Yea Lilly,
Follow Tom’s advice, read the archives and you’ll see Tommy-from-the government-bureau cop a dressing down every time he shows up here and makes another stupid comment about how he’s worried the libs would remove his RDO privileges if they won government.
(Don’t stand in between Tommy and his RDO as you likely be run over and killed as he races to the door early Thursday afternoon.)
Seren
Actually you made a good point that I alluded to as well.
The stupidest comment we’ve seen in a while is chubby cheeks wishing out loud how she would rather be in a class room.
Who needs to go to the circus and watch clowns when we have the ALP front bench perform.
Wow. This appalling Gillard blunder has really got lefties embarrassed.
Understandably.
It the admissions I always like and you always know there’s going to be a “but” following the confession
and usually also followed with
.
Left whiners are truly insufferable.
A bunch of assumptions behind this post:
1. the fact of the invitation ïtself is “politicisation”.
2. the fact the invitation was made (and obviously declined) was made known to the press with intent to embarrass Abbott;
3. that the only thing Abbott could say to the attempted “politicisation” was his inane comment about jet lag;
4. that Abbott couldn’t talk about his “set date” visit because it is (or was) very close to happening (on the way back from England, presumably.)
5. The Taliban know or care about Tony Abbott.
Further information on how this evolved will likely provide further light. In the meantime, take a Bex and have a good lie down, Catallaxy.
Q.E.D.
Me at 11.04: “You guys really need to get a sense of proportion in your commentary.”
C.L. eleven minutes later: “…this appalling Gillard blunder”.
Thanks for coming!
QED to you too.
Tommy:
No kidding but you seem agitated this evening.. Has you boss suggested you can’t take this week’s RDO?
Don’t take my word for it, Tom.
PM admits foreign policy not her forte.
Ya don’t say.
I wouldn’t have guessed from her tip-off to the Taliban that the pro-war Australian Opposition Leader is on his way to Afghanistan.
Jaysus people! Can you be more specific when referring to duck bottom’s blunders? It’s a box of Allsorts today. There’s just so many from which to choose.
You’re right Gab of course.
Trying to get Abbott killed is old hat now.
Saying she prefers to spend time in a classroom is the new stupid.
her tip-off to the Taliban
Joe Hockey likes to frock up, does he CL?
Even assuming for the sake of argument the absolute worst motivation and scheming from Gillard personally in all this (as you will), what would have been wrong with Abbott saying this:
“yes, I did decline the invitation with Ms Gillard, for reasons I will detail on my return to Australia. I think the public will understand once they know the full background.” ?
Instead, Abbott made a stupid statement which led to Hockey trying to cover for him by saying Abbott’s got a trip coming up. (And we don’t even know yet if the trip is on the return leg from England. If it is actually weeks or months away yet, then it’s no big reason for not taking the Gillard invitation, apart from Abbott not wanting to look co-operative, and there is no security issue for Abbott as well.)
LOL:
Gillard to be ‘feisty’ in foreign affairs.
And here’s a shout-out for real Aussies and the “right kind of migrants”:
White Power!
A tip-off is “inside information that something is going to happen.”
How you got Joe Hockey starkers out of that is anyone’s guess. Steve, others have charitably suggested you get it over with and come out of the closet. Imagining Hockey naked is probably the sign, brother.
Steve, you dishonest galoot, Gillard was aware that Abbott was planning his own trip to Afghanistan and that he was booked to meet the BRITISH GOVERNMENT on the weekend in question. Perhaps with the advice of spin-maestro Bruce Hawker, she asked Abbott to accompany her to Afghanistan knowing he couldn’t go and knowing he’d be hard pressed to explain why. She has also behaved like a brainless harridan in saying that Australian troops are laughing at Tony Abbott. We’ve never seen the like of this from either side of politics in the past 20 years of military engagements. The fact is she was humiliatated in Afghanistan when, following her solemn declarations that no further men or materiel were required there, troops on the ground repudiated her to her face when they asked for a lot more of what she called “stuff.”
Steve it would do you good to carry out an honest tally of verbal blunders. If you can be honest, you’ll soon see that gillard wins quacks down. I haven’t seen anyone here refute that Abbott make a dumb comment today. But even you can see that gillard has hacked forth some beauties in the last few days. Admit it.
Steve begins to sweat a little thinking about Hockey naked after which he decides he’s not going to admit it.
CL, my comprehension challenged friend, you said her tipoff of Abbott’s trip. It was in fact Hockey, a non frock wearing he, who announced a forthcoming Abbott trip. Nakedness never came into it, either.
As for her alleged humiliation, it is only evident in your feverish imagination, which when it comes to Gillard,
I know this is a bit arcane but there is quite an amazing “arbitrage” going on in the markets.
The US government has been selling its Citigroup stock since May this year when it announced it was selling through a trading mandate given to Morgan stanley.
The market has correctly understood this as positive for citi because the US government wouldn’t be selling out unless the bank was in okay shape.
They announced a new selling program at just above 4 dollars so this large selling overhang is keeping C’s stock artificially depressed in comparison to the other banks.
It’s trading at slightly below book value.
The overall point is that people are taking this opportunity to load up and when the selling disappears the stock will/should shoot up.
I have to admit, I’m a little puzzled at why Gillard is bring back Labor’s white australia policy at this time.
Perhaps with an eye to a possible coalition with an Australian Branch of the BNP?
No Steve, you intellectual midget. Gillard – GILLARD – was aware that Abbott was planning his own trip to Afghanistan and that he was booked to meet the BRITISH GOVERNMENT on the weekend in question. She phonily, dishonestly asked Abbott to accompany her to Afghanistan knowing he couldn’t go and knowing he’d be hard pressed to explain why. So she is the one who forced the revelation; she is the one playing grubby politics with national security.
Which is hardly surprising for a woman who sent her bodyguard to NSC meetings.
With respect to Gillard’s self-beclowning on the reinforcements question, she was humiliated at the ADF fire base when – contrary to the Hawker script – actual soldiers told her that they did in fact desperately need more men and materiel. I’m sorry, more “stuff” – as Julia called it.
Stedman could have represented Australia with more aplomb and he would have had the added advantage (from Labor’s perspective) of packing a hair dryer.
It is a first, though, for a modern prime minister to speak up for the White History while abroad.
Thought for the day – what if Abbott had booked his trip way before duck bum? Abbott has gone over for the annual Tory conference which he would have known about for months. He might have booked in for that six months ago – before the duck knifed the teat – and organized an afghan trip at the same time . If so, this would be a case of the duck grandstanding and trying to get in first.
Gab, I’ll tell you what’s truly hilarious: when Abbott doesn’t get the message from Catallaxy as to how to react to a Gillard comment. The Australian this morning:
For a PM who is supposed to be making so many howlers, it’s funny how the really aggro stories (and in the Murdoch tabloids) are about Abbott.
Yobbo
One thing I picked about Gillard years ago is that she is no luvvie. She is more Hanson than Hansen-Young. 😉
Hi Alan, it’s steve again form Mt Kosciusko.
jc
What is this “hi alan”? Please explain.
It’s very funny as we have all these leftwingers these days coming on here and pretending they’re right.
Cl thinks it gone viral and I think he may very well be right.
It refers to callers to Alan Jones pretending they’re right wing and then mouthing off some left wing platitude like…
” Hi alan , I’m steve. I’d just like the say I’m a liberal supporter but I don’t like the idea of Tony Abbott and what he would do to the NBN”.
We’ve now got all these leftwingers bullshitting like that. Even Harry who publicly admitted voting Gangrenes is also doing it.
Ah, got it! Concern trolling! 😉
JC is the ‘Hi Alan’ skit ‘concern’ trolling’ also?
Note to self: refresh screen before posting.
If Sinclair Davidson had read Phillip Coorey he would not have written another inaccurate piece.
A shame but very very typical.
[Homer has never learned to link, so here is the Coorey article. Sinc]
Yeah right Homer, the diggers don’t need tanks or close air support, why don’t you ask them about that?
Another genius who thinks that Rommel, Robert the Bruce, Caesar, etc were “wrong” for using combined arms operations.
Homer
How many Dune inspired pseudonyms do you need to go through BTW?
You ain’t no superhero, mate.
Steve
Why is that funny? I have read a variety of ‘aggro’ stories on Abbott originating from The Australian. Often the headline and first paragraph seem to favour Abbott, but that changes upon read the entire article.
Are you wearing your favourite fishnet stockings again?
“Funny” because your new best buddies CL (aka “Marilyn”) & JC’s analysis of how statements made by Gillard are being received by the public are so often so wildly inaccurate.
Also funny how it almost seems like a memo has gone to the Murdoch tabloids, now that Julia formed government, to the effect “OK, got to work with Julia now. New angle: Abbott’s a dill after all.” Their coverage of Abbott has swung wildly from hoping he would form government, to being very agin him, in the space of a couple of weeks, IMHO.
Mind you, there was no way he was going to avoid adverse coverage from the “jetlag” comment; but the way the tabloids then went out of their way to contact relatives of soldiers who died there was a bit over the top. See, that means I am partially agreeing with you. (I can tell it won’t last though.)
You lot were lamenting like llamas stuck in mud because your perception of the mean Murdoch media was in favour of Abbott. Now your perception informs you that the Murdoch has turned. It’s hard to make you chaps happy init?
Are your fishnets a little too tight today?
You forgot to preface that with ‘Hi Alan’
Gab, I’m perfectly happy if the Murdoch tabloid press aligns generally with my view of Abbott.
Re your repeated fishnet stocking joke: it’s called “trying too hard”.
His Madiness is cooling off in the slammer at the moment. I’ll let him out after a week or so.
Sinclair, you are really trying too hard. Bear in mind three statements by Abbott.
First, Abbott welcomes Gillard’s statement that she is “more comfortable in the domestic scene than meeting foreign leaders; we don’t want a Kevin 747″ (The Australian). Secondly, Abbott says he is sorry if he gave offence to the families of our troops”. Thirdly, an editorial in the Sun-Herald says there should be no security concerns “if no one knows when he is going”.
In short, he is guilty of a moral mis-judgment. It may be hurtful but it may be forgotten in a few months.
Another embarrassment:
Gillard can’t remember the name of the force we fight in Afghanistan.
She really cares.
Steve, we’re all tired of your Hi-Allan-ism but some credit is due to you for not joining Julia in speaking up for White Power!
Australian Defence Association slams Whitey Duck Bottom:
For the chronologically challenged CL, who wrote:
SMH reported:
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott will meet with British Prime Minister David Cameron on Monday at the UK Conservative Party’s annual conference.
Mr Abbott will meet with Mr Cameron, who heads a minority government, late on the second day of the four-day conference in Birmingham, a spokesperson for Mr Abbott said.
He will also meet with British Foreign Affairs Secretary William Hague and Defence Secretary Liam Fox during Tuesday and Wednesday, but will not officially address the conference.
Advertisement: Story continues below
Mr Abbott will return to London on Thursday, where he will meet with Bank of England governor Mervyn King.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Julia Gillard will arrive in Brussels on Sunday night to attend the two-day ASEM summit of European and Asian leaders.
That’s probably why he said he didn’t want to be jetlagged; not “it was impossible for me to both have my prearranged meeting with Cameron and make a last minute detour into Afghanistan”
Jeez louise, Steve… is there anything else to talk about other than abbott’s jet lag.
FFS you’re boring.
Honest to goodness if the Greens succeed in introducing euthanasia you could the prime candidate to kill off the elderly and infirm by just talking to them for an 1/2 hour. Assuming a 8 hour shift with 90 minutes break you could end up snuffing out up to 65 people a week.
Dude, Europe is talking about having the coldest winter in 1000 years. Focus on shit like that.
Damn you JC. I wanted to see how long Steve was going to keep this up. It’s like watching someone wth OCD.
Gillard new he was booked for that and she knew he was making his own plans for Afghanistan.
The ADA is right to condemn Gillard for her gutter tactics. She has politicised Australian troops in a way no previous party leader has for decades.
On top of that, she was beclowned at the ADF fire base, has admitted she is incompetent on foreign affairs and her reference to “white history” was truly weird.
?
Tony Abbott wrote that about himself as the ediorial writer of the Sun-Herald, Fred?
Gab, you haven’t learned a couple of things yet?:
1. CL will never, ever, admit he was wrong. It’s the real psychological problem on display at this blog. It’s my duty to point out his clear errors in the confabulating record that he would otherwise like to maintain. (Strangely, several other commenters just assume he’s right.)
JC: the fact I open my eyes in the morning 1000 km away is enough to send psychic vibes through the air that are enough to annoy him. I have an unnatural talent in this regard.
Steve
You do know how to count to two, yeah?
Steve – you’re getting smacked. best to quit while you’re ahead. 🙂
It’s the real psychological problem on display at this blog.
Gab, Steve spent weeks earlier in the year talking about Tony Abbott’s genitals and Speedos; he fantasised about Abbott being caught in adultery on his blog; he has invoked a naked Joe Hockey on this very thread. Apart from all that, he once famously declared that the Australian public would blame Nick Minchin for the heat in summer.
Fred and Steve.
Great Scott.
Fred got lost on the way to three Abbott quotes and Steve can’t count to two.
So I forgot to put a 2 in front of the second paragraph that made a second point? And got “slapped” someone who appears to be CL & JC’s very own Philomena. Yes, very embarrassing.
Steve your exhalation of CO2 irritates me. I’m thinking here we are with a global emissions problem and there’s Steve exhaling C02 and ruining the atmosphere. And then i think to myself… why, why does “the planet” have to be subjected to this violence?
You referred to me as an acolyte yesterday. You now refer to me as a saint.
Can’t wait to see the promotion you bestow on me tomorrow SteveWhat colour are your fishnets today?
Um, I’ll save Gab the bother:
Oh JC, that’s hilarious! I never knew blogs could be so amusing!
You’re sounding a tad jealous there Steve. LOL
Unless, Steve, you meant it as a reference to Sinclair?: